Tag Archives: Cancer stem cell

Stem cells could be responsible for some forms of aggressive thyroid tumors (ATC, anaplastic thyroid carcinoma). The discovery was made by a young group of biotechnologists, biologists, and doctors from the Endocrinology department of the General Hospital of the University of Palermo. In the study, published in Plos One, the researchers described a subset of tumor stem cells that were able to proliferate continuously and may be responsible for uncontrolled tumor growth. These cells are resistant to chemotherapy and explain why ATC is so highly fatal in such a short period of time. The Read More…

Many of us remain close to our siblings in adulthood, seeing each other through life’s ups and downs. But for Dr. Don Hicks, director of The Center for Church Relations and Church Health at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, and his brother Billy, the relationship couldn’t be closer – they share the same blood and the same immune system. That’s because Don donated his stem cells to his brother last year after discovering he was Billy’s only chance at surviving leukemia.

Billy, who lives in Nashville, Tenn., with his wife and three children (two in high school and one in college), Read More…

Scientists at the FIRC (Italian Foundation for Cancer Research) Institute of Molecular Oncology of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan have revealed how to eliminate cancer stem cells, the true reason for cancer’s incurability. Researchers led by Pier Giuseppe Pelicci, Director of the Department of Experimental Oncology of the European Institute of Oncology, and Professor of general pathology at the University of Milan, have discovered how cancer stem cells become immortal.

The same oncogenes that are responsible for triggering the process of tumor formation, also impede stem cells from growing old, and allow them to maintain their Read More…

Research has indicated that certain sarcomas come from the mesenchymal stem cells. However, expression of neural stem cells has been noted in others. Identifying and isolating mesenchymal stem cells and neural stem cells relies on finding specific proteins expressed by both types.

In this study, eight different markers representing proteins associated with these two types of stem cells were applied to the 81 tumors. Through cluster analysis, the researchers organized the data into groups showing similar patterns. Two major subgroups of pediatric sarcomas emerged

Making a breakthrough in the battle against breast cancer, scientists have used a combination of drugs to target cancer stem cells that cause the disease to spread.

Current treatments kill only the surface cells in a breast tumour, but scientists now say they can destroy the root, the Mirror reported.

They hope that the findings, revealed ahead of World Cancer Day, can be used to help women with advanced and aggressive cancers. Targeting cancer stem cells takes us a step closer to better clinical options for those with the disease, said Dr Rob Clarke, of Manchester University.

Stem cells are basic cells that can become almost any type of cell in the body. Human stem cells can come from an embryo or an adult human. They have many possible uses in science and medicine, yet controversy surrounds them.

New research has identified rogue cells -- namely brain and muscle cells -- lurking within kidney organoids. Such cells make up only 10 to 20 percent of an organoid's cells, but their presence indicates that the 'recipes' used to coax stem cells into becoming kidney cells inadvertently are churning out other cell types.

A new study shows that cancer stem cells switch from metabolizing sugar to metabolizing protein. Clinical trial based on this observation may revolutionize care for older adults with acute myeloid leukemia.

Researchers have developed a way to grow human heart tissue that can serve as a model for the upper chambers of the heart, known as the atria. The tissue, derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPCSs), beats, expresses genes, and responds to drugs in a manner similar to a real human atrium. The model […]

Scientists have created a tiny, biodegradable scaffold to transplant stem cells and deliver drugs, which may help treat Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, aging brain degeneration, spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries. Stem cell transplantation, which shows promise as a treatment for central nervous system diseases, has been hampered by low cell survival rates, incomplete […]

Promising findings from preclinical animal studies show the potential of gene therapy for treating incurable neurological disorders. Scientists have successfully used gene therapy to slow the progression and improve symptoms of disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson's disease.

A new form of therapy may halt or even reverse a form of progressive vision loss that, until now, has inevitably led to blindness. This hyper-targeted approach offers hope to individuals living with spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) and validates a new form of therapy with the potential to treat neurogenetic diseases effectively and with […]